Keep Your Home Safe This Christmas

So Thames Valley Police share the following useful tips:

• Invest in timers to open and close your curtains or turn on your lights, or better yet, ask a family member or neighbour to pop in and do it at random times of the day so a potential thief does not see an exact pattern

• Shut and key lock doors and windows when a room is unoccupied, when you go out and when you go to bed

• Ensure that doors which use lifting handles to engage the locks are always locked with the key

• Make efforts to restrict access into your rear garden by padlocking gates and repairing fences

• Don’t leave any keys in sight of doors and windows or near your letterbox or cat flap where they could be hooked out

• Valuable items including laptops/tablets, mobile phones, games consoles and jewellery should be hidden from view when not in use

• Security mark all valuables with your postcode and house number or use a forensic property marking kit. Keep a record of makes, models and serial numbers

• Register all your electronic items and other technology with Immobilise, the UK national property register free of charge at www.immobilise.com

• Keep gifts and presents out of view. Placing them in plain view of windows will only draw attention to your house and its contents

• Be cautious when using social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Do you really want to advertise that your home is empty by showing you are somewhere else or having a countdown to your holiday?

• Dispose of boxes and rubbish discreetly. Leaving boxes outside will give away the fact that you have new and valuable items in the house

• Register to receive important Police alerts and information at www.thamesvalleyalert.co.uk

• Keep an eye out for any suspicious behaviour around your neighbours' houses or in your street

• Report suspicious incidents on the Police non-emergency number 101

• For a crime in progress, ring the emergency number 999